Remembering Our Roots
by Bookish-Fics
Summary: A story following James, Sirius, Remus and Peter through their years at Hogwarts, starting in year one. This includes many Original Characters and follows a few minor characters of the era as well. Meant to be character development and fun alternative. This story may continue on into the Golden Trio Era. Rated M for violence, adult language and adult themes as the characters mature


Upon rushing through the platform wall, Temperance Ackerman stood, awestruck by the sight before her. There were so many wizarding families saying goodbye to each other. Kids on the train already, animals all over the place. No doubt other people's pets. She somewhat regretted asking her parents to stay behind so she could come in alone. Not only was she almost late, she realized that most of the first years were there with their parents. Even some of the older kids. Yet, there was nothing she could do now, it was all said and done. She hurried to get her things onto the train, looking around as everyone was waving goodbye out to their parents. It wasn't long until the train was off on it's way and everyone was headed to compartments. Temperance quickly tried to get away from the bigger students and found an open compartment with quite a few students already. They all looked to be around her age and she grinned.

"Mind if I come in and sit down?" She watched as three boys, all with dark hair turned to look at her. One had really messy hair with glasses, the other long curly hair that made him remind her of a sheep dog and the last, somewhat greasy long hair. There was one girl currently in the compartment and she had her hair in a plain braid, down the side of her shoulder.

The boy with the glasses grinned. "Sure. We still have room." She smiled and sat down beside the curly haired boy who didn't seem very interested. It was across from the boy with the glasses. The girl and the boy with the greasy hair hadn't seemed like they cared one way or the other.

The greasy haired boy then turned to the girl with a braid with a smile. "Anyways, I was saying that you have to be in Slytherin. It'll be great."

The boy with the glasses raised an eyebrow. "Slytherin? Who in the world wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave wouldn't you?" he asked the boy with the curly hair beside Temperance.

He shrugged, his face not changing from his blank, uncaring expression. "My whole family have been in Slytherin."

"Blimey!" The boy with the glasses blinked. "And I thought you seemed alright!"

The boy with the curly hair finally grinned. "Maybe I'll break the tradition. Where are you heading, if you've got the choice?"

The boy with the glasses puffed out his chest and held up an invisible sword. "'Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!' Just like my dad." The boy with the greasy hair snorted and the boy with the glasses glared at him. "Got a problem with that?"

The boy with greasy hair didn't back down. "No…" he was glaring a bit himself. "If you'd rather be brawny than brainy…"

"Where're you hoping to go, seeing as you're neither?" Interjected the boy with curly hair.

The girl with the braid glared and stood up. "Come on Severus, let's go. These guys are jerks."

"Ooooo…" Both the glasses boy and curly haired boy imitated in her voice. "See ya Snivellus!" A voice called, as the compartment door slammed…

Temperance blinked and looked to the two of them. "Is that what house rivalry is like at the school?" She asked quietly.

The boy with the curly hair folded his arms. "I suppose that depends. Where do you expect to go?"

She frowned a bit. "I dunno…but I don't think all Slytherins are bad. I mean…my mum was in Slytherin and she's a really good person. Her family is neutral purebloods and she married a puff. I mean. My dad's from a really light family and well. They're just really sweet together…" she hesitated. "I'd like to think house doesn't matter."

The boy with the glasses smiled. "Well, there are always those few that are jerks no matter what house you're in. And then there are those who are sweet no matter where they go. But generally Slytherin isn't a very nice house. I'm assuming your mum would've told you that."

She hesitated and nodded. "Oh. My name is Temperance Ackerman."

The boy with the glasses grinned. "I'm James Potter. Nice to meet you." He then looked to the boy with curly hair. "What about you?"

He grinned a bit, shaking James's hand. "Sirius Black."

Temperance smiled a little and looked to Sirius. "So…why wouldn't you want to be in Slytherin?"

Sirius shrugged a bit. "I absolutely hate my mum and that's all she's ever wanted for me. It'd be a pretty nice thing to throw in her face if I made it into Gryffindor. She would hate it." He grinned.

James smirked at Sirius, seeming to enjoy this. "Why don't we go explore the train a bit?"

Sirius grinned back. "I think that sounds like a brilliant idea." They left without even saying goodbye and Temperance once again felt rather lonely, frowning a bit. Those two seemed to be fast friends…and here she was left behind. Maybe there was someone in another compartment? So she got up and went to go inspect the other compartments. She found one where a spell went flying out of the compartment which she barely dodged, so she just closed that one and kept going. Quite a few were filled with older students. She frowned a bit, worrying that she wouldn't find one that even remotely seemed to have room for her. It got quieter the farther down the train she went and she opened a door to see a girl on the floor, books littered everywhere and scratching notes furiously into them and all over some parchment. This girl looked rather tiny for eleven. She had really bright red and frizzy, curly hair. She seemed interesting. "Do you mind if I come in? Everywhere else seems to be…a little too exciting for my tastes…"

The girl didn't look up and had responded in what sounded like a somewhat sad voice. It would've sounded a bit more pitying if it wasn't such a thick Irish accent. "If you want to…No one else wanted to stay…" She looked up at Temperance hesitantly, and Temperance could suddenly see why most people might have been uncomfortable. She had bandages all over her neck and the side of her face.

Temperance however, thought it would be rude to ask about it and just smiled, shutting the compartment door. "Are you really eleven? You look so tiny."

The girl eyed her strangely and sat up. "I'm in third year…" she said very seriously with a straight face. When she saw the look of shock on Temperance's face she let out a laugh. "No…really I'm just eleven. I'm sorry I couldn't resist." She snickered a bit and then looked very nervous all of a sudden. "You're not mad are you?…"

Temperance breathed a sigh of relief and laughed. "Not at all." She sat down, having moved one of the books and looked at all of them. "Wow. You're already halfway through our school books? I mean…" she blushed. "I was told to only start practicing spells when I get to school."

The girl shrugged. "I've been practicing since I got my wand and I haven't been told otherwise. The steps are really simple. Look!" She took out her wand and pointed to a book. "Wingardium Leviosa." Her book floated up and sort of stayed there. She grinned. "There's loads more that are really simple. It's incredibly exciting."

Temperance blinked. "Woaaahhh." She started flipping to the start of the book. "Where can I learn how to do that?"

The girl sat down beside her and picked out the page, pointing to it. "Are you a muggleborn? Or do your parents not wanting you to do magic yet? My mum never wanted me to touch a wand." She said somewhat quietly.

Temperance blushed. "My mum is just a little over protective. I'm a pureblood…but I guess I listen a little too well…" she was a deep shade of red.

"Oh! Really? I'm a pureblood too! Except my family is mostly Irish. I dunno about my mum's side but…my dad's side is full of Irishmen. Well…but a lot of my aunts and cousins are from all over the world. Or so I've heard. I haven't really met them."

Temperance raised an eyebrow. "That's actually really interesting." She grinned. "My name is Temperance Ackerman." She offered her hand.

The girl eyed it awkwardly before shaking it. Even her hand was tiny. "Ke…" she started and then blushed. "I go by Kiki. My name is too long and I like this better."

Temperance grinned. "That's brilliant! I want a nickname!"

Kiki grinned. "What about Tempy? That's pretty cute."

Temperance broke out into a grin. "Wicked! But only by the people I like." She chuckled. She jumped when the spell wore off and the book fell. She grinned. "Let's practice then if we can!"

Kiki chuckled. "Um…you're the kind of person who's easily influenced aren't you?"

Tempy blushed a bit. "Hey…my mum isn't around to tell me what to do. I want to get crazy and enjoy being a witch!"

Kiki grinned and stood up, showing her the spells she had practiced so far. Before they knew it about an hour had passed by and their compartment door suddenly burst open. James and Sirius from earlier had poured in and closed the door quickly, hiding on the ground. When James looked over he blinked, seeing books flying, the seats changed all strange colors and the girls's hair standing up in strange directions. He then recognized Temperance and chuckled. "Well…looks like you've been busy."

At this Sirius looked over and jumped. "Bloody hell…what the hell happened in here?"

Kiki blushed a bit and smoothed her hair out and her books fell. Temperance grinned and changed the seats back. "We've been practicing. The charms book is super interesting. Oh and transfiguration! Look! I can change a quill into a worm!" She held up a writhing worm and then blushed. "I…haven't really figured out how to turn it back yet…" She grinned as James laughed and then eyed the two of them. "Are you hiding from something?"

Sirius and James exchanged looks before hesitantly beginning to speak. Sirius was the first one to speak up. "We…may…or may not have left some exploding snap cards in the compartment of a group of fifth years who so rudely escorted us out."

James smirked. "They'll be in for a sure surprise here pretty soon huh." They high fived each other and James peeked out the window, having agreed to be the look out.

Sirius looked to the red headed girl and raised an eyebrow. "Holy…what happened to your face?"

Tempy blushed a bit. "That's really rude! Why would you just blurt that out?"

Sirius just looked at her like she was nuts. "It's huge, how could you not have asked?"

Kiki looked a tad uncomfortable and just shifted slightly, moving her wand to her pocket. "Magic accident…" she said with a weak smile.

Temperance and Sirius eyed her hesitantly after that and he was the first to speak up. "And you're in here throwing spells around with her. Great idea Ackerman…"

James laughed a bit and looked to Kiki. "You know you two can get expelled for practicing magic on the train right?"

Kiki's face paled and she frowned. "What? But no one said…I mean…We haven't even got there yet!" She looked as if she were about to panic. Tempy put her hand on Kiki's shoulders, worrying a little herself.

James laughed. "I'm kidding yeesh. You'll only really get into trouble if you do magic around muggles. So calm down."

Tempy glared at James. "That wasn't funny…we both obviously really want to be here…"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Oh calm down it was just a joke…" he saw Kiki sighing in relief. "See? She's fine. Stop worrying over the cry baby."

Tempy started to say something and Kiki stopped her with a chuckle. "No…it's fine." She then laughed. "I'm just a scaredy cat I guess." She then frowned. "I hope McGonagall doesn't find out…she'll scold me so much…"

Tempy started to ask her about who McGonagall was and then heard a series of loud pops and lots of students pouring out of their compartments. She rushed over to look out the compartment window with James and Sirius. Kids were pouring out, coughing and trying to get away from a compartment that was oozing smoke. They ducked when people started to look into the compartment and Tempy was the only one left looking out the window. No one seemed to notice though and she grinned. "That was brilliant."

James and Sirius grinned, standing up. "We've got more of the train to explore." They opened the door and headed out.

Sirius called back to them as he left. "Don't blow anything up in Ackerman's face red!"

This made Kiki blush and look at her hands. "I didn't do it to myself…I'm not that stupid…" she grumbled.

Tempy looked out after them and grinned. "This seems like it's going to be a promising school year." She then closed the door and looked back to Kiki. "What house do you want to be in?"

Kiki blushed a little. "I don't know…honestly…I'm just happy to be here…"

Temperance grinned. "I hope we'll be in the same house. I don't want to lose my first friend." Kiki blushed more at that and hid her face in her hands with her hair. Temperance grinned and ruffled her hair with a laugh. "You weirdo."


End file.
